Keyslayer
by flaming-dingleberry
Summary: Post KH2. A man called the Keyslayer has tracked Sora down and seeks to destroy the Keyblade, but not just Sora's. Riku's and Mickey's are in danger as well. And what of the mysterious WorldKey.exe program Tron found in the Radiant Garden computers?


FDB: I know I haven't been posting in a while, but I've been working on my own stories for a while. Decided to post this and try my luck at a new story I came up with. Hope you like it.

WARNING: SPOILAGE OUT THE ASS AHEAD! If you have not beaten KH2, then go finish it, then come back. I mean it. Go away. Beat the game. Do it. Now. Don't worry, you don't have to fight Sephiroth. That's good news, right?

Chapter 1: Dawn of Darkness

Green eyes flashed across the pure white floor of the abandoned castle. The man stepped across the threshold, his eyes scanning the entire floor, not missing a single detail. He had no time to idle. Glancing in the corner to the left of the entrance, he spotted his prize. His footsteps made no sound as they crossed the pristine floor of Castle Oblivion. He bent over and picked up the small trinket that caught his eye: a Keychain. It was a silver lion's head attached to a chain. The man smiled. This was the last of them. Darkness filled the palm of his hand. He closed his fist around the Darkness and the Keychain. After a few seconds, Light erupted from his hand and in it was a Keyblade: A long silver blade with the same silver lion's head as the Key head. However, the weapon appeared slightly darker than normal.

"Weapon of Light," the man said. "Infused with Shadow. Balance…Balance is restored to this Key." The Keyblade disappeared in a flash of Light, and the man stowed the Keychain beneath his jacket. Darkness engulfed him and he vanished from the castle. He reappeared many yards from Castle Oblivion, the vacant fortress at his back. He continued along the path until he came upon a portal of Darkness. Stepping through, he found himself in another white room. This one was considerably larger than the ones in Castle Oblivion, but it had to be larger. In the middle of the room was a large capsule in the shape of a white egg. The man walked up to it and pressed a hand to it.

"He's been here," he said. "The Keymaster." The man's attention turned to a single door leading from the room. Walking into the hallway, he saw numerous smaller pods against the wall. He stopped at two in particular. "His companions…" The man continued walking through the hallway and through the next room to a computer room. Someone was seated at the computer. The person's silhouette was that of a small being with two large circles on top of his head. The man knew immediately who it was.

"You are King Mickey."

* * *

Kairi stared out at the ocean. She swore she had seen a pair of Lights fall from the sky and hit the water. After a few minutes, a pair of heads burst through the water's surface. One was that of a man with long silver hair hanging in front of Light green eyes. The other was a mass of spiky brown above a pair of blue eyes. It was Sora and Riku. The two of them looked to her and she waved her hands over her head. They started swimming towards shore, and when they reached the sands of their home, Riku and Sora looked to Kairi.

"You're home," she said. The three of them went back to their homes on the mainland and reunited with their parents after the longest time. Riku and Sora were nearly grounded until doomsday, until Kairi's adoptive parents showed them the letter they had received from Ansem the Wise and explained everything. Then, Riku and Sora's parents seemed more accepting of their children's destinies. They were just glad to have their children home after so long. Sora and Riku went home after over a year of hard travel and savored the feeling of sleeping in their own beds that night.

The next day, around noon, Kairi had to throw rocks at Sora's window to wake him up. He told her, "Heroes should get to sleep in, now and then," but she wouldn't listen and insisted that he and Riku accompany her back to the island. All three friends paddled their boats out to Destiny Islands to find Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie. The three of them had prepared a small welcome home party on the island. They all had drinks and cake, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi told stories about their adventures together. After a few hours, the sun began to set in the west, and Riku and Sora were off on their own, talking about something. Kairi was standing on the beach, glad to have her friends home after so long.

Kairi stood in the surf, feeling the water wash over her shoes. She closed her eyes and smiled into the wind, happy that things were finally back to normal, the Nobodies were gone, Kingdom Hearts was safely sealed, and Sora and Riku were finally home. Her thoughts were interrupted by something bumping against her shoe. She looked down and saw a small, glass bottle floating in the tides. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. There was a small roll of paper inside, similar to the one she had set out to sea when she had finally remembered Sora's name. Another turn revealed a small symbol stamped in the side of the note. Kairi recognized it immediately, and set of running.

Kairi huffed and puffed as she ran towards Sora and Riku, clutching the bottle she had found to her chest. She called to her friends and showed them the bottle. One glance at the rolled up paper inside and they knew what it was. Adorning the side of the roll was a large circle with two smaller ones close together on the top: The seal of King Mickey. Sora snatched the message-in-a-bottle away from Kairi, dumped the letter out and unrolled the message. Riku and Kairi read over his shoulders, and what they read astounded them.

_Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,_

_I know you haven't been home long, but I have urgent news for you. I'm currently in Twilight Town trying to hack into Ansem's computer. I think he may have stored some of his research on hearts on this computer. I've been able to extract some data, but it's too confusing. I can barely make anything out, but this is what I have found out: Ansem stopped his research on the heart because he saw Kingdom Hearts as a source of great power, and he thought it too dangerous to continue his studies. He didn't want to be tempted to seek out such power and wisdom. Xehanort, however, continued Ansem's research and…you've seen what happened._

_I've read some of Ansem's recent data concerning the Heartless, and something troubles me. Ansem figured out how the Keyblade works. Heartless are collections of Darkness with a heart trapped inside. The Keyblade is a weapon of Light that cuts through the Darkness and guides the Light to the surface. Ansem saw that the Keyblade creates an imbalance between Light and Darkness. He hypothesized that this is why the Darkness can't be destroyed permanently, because the Keyblade creates an excess of Light, and Darkness must fill the world to maintain Balance._

_Ansem has volumes written on Balance between Light and Darkness, including some research on connections between the Heartless and the Nobodies. But that isn't the important part. Sora and Riku, I believe your Keyblades may be in danger. You see, there's this man who calls himself the Keyslayer…

* * *

_

King Mickey sat in the chair previously occupied by DiZ, otherwise known as Ansem the Wise. His fingers flew over the Keyboard in an attempt to dig further into Ansem's research files. There had to be something in these computers that explained how to defeat the Heartless. Ansem had spent much time close to the World That Never Was, and Ansem had to know something of the inner workings of Darkness. The King's hands slowed to a stop, and the monarch's head drooped. He had been working for hours, but Ansem's security system was too tough to beat. Even after uploading Tron into the system, the two of them together could not break Ansem's firewall.

"You are King Mickey," a voice came from the doorway leading from the mansion. Mickey turned and saw a man with short black hair, a goatee, and deep green eyes between the two. He wore a coat much like the coats worn by the Organization, except it was open, revealing a white shirt, black pants, and black shoes. He also wore an expression of disinterest on his face. "You are King Mickey," the man said again. It wasn't a question.

"Who wants to know?" King Mickey swung his right hand through the air and his Keyblade materialized in his hand. The gold shaft glowed in the Light from the computers. The man didn't answer. "Who are you?" King Mickey demanded.

"I am known by too many titles to label myself with just one." The man spoke calmly and the King swore the words were made of ice. "One would not be sufficient to describe who and what I am, but I believe I shall humor you and introduce myself as the Keyslayer. I believe that may be enough for you. It gives you a title to address me by, and, if you are as astute as I have heard, it tells you why I am here, as well."

King Mickey thought about it and said, "This is about my Keyblade, isn't it?"

"Obviously." The man shrugged and flipped a hand through his hair. "I am here to destroy it."

"What? Destroy the Keyblade? Why? Do you work for Maleficent?"

"You would dare align me with that fool of a witch?" The man's words gained an edge that made the King shiver "She is better suited to concocting love potions and casting hexes. She knows not what she does by flooding the world with Darkness. She seeks absolute Darkness across all worlds and because of this she is as much my enemy as you are."

King Mickey relaxed his grip on the Keyblade. "You're not working for the Heartless?" The man shook his head. "If you aren't with Maleficent, what reason do you have to destroy the Keyblade?"

"Balance. Balance is reason enough." The man held out his hand. "Now if you would please hand over the Keyblade. I would prefer not to resort to violence against such a revered monarch."

"You'll never get this Keyblade from me!"

"Very well," the man said. "You leave me little choice." The man approached the King and Mickey prepared to fight. At the last second, the Keyslayer turned and walked towards the door to the mansion. "I will take my leave for now, My King. However, I will return for your Keyblade in due time. Right now, I have other business I must attend to. Good day." The man disappeared through the door and ascended the stairs to the mansion.

King Mickey didn't loosen his grip on his Keyblade until he got a message from Tron a few minutes later. The King dismissed his Keyblade and turned back to the computer. He looked over his shoulder a couple times to ensure he wouldn't be ambushed, and after he was confident the man was gone, he opened Tron's message.

* * *

_Tron said Ansem had left a command in his programming for this exact situation. Should anyone speaking of Balance threaten to destroy the Keyblade, Tron is to access the Hollow Bastion OS security protocols and access the program WorldKey.exe. Tron doesn't remember being encoded with this command, nor does he know what the program does. I'm going to take Tron back to Radiant Garden and upload him back into his home system. I want you three to meet me in Ansem's computer room as soon as possible. Cloud, Leon, Merlin, and the others should be there. Hurry._

_King Mickey_

_PS- Protect your Keyblades with your lives. Don't let anything happen to them._

Kairi, Sora, and Riku finished reading the letter. Sora re-read it just to be sure of what King Mickey had written. Was there really a man out to destroy the Keyblade?

"You think the King's telling the truth about the Keyslayer?" Kairi asked.

Riku shrugged. "Why would he lie? If the King says there's a crazed psychopath out to destroy the Keyblades, then we should take his word for it." He started walking towards the beach, he hands shoved in his pockets. "We should get ready to leave. You two leave a note for our parents. They need to know where we are this time."

Kairi and Sora nodded. Using another sheet of paper, and the same bottle Kairi found, Sora and Kairi put together a brief letter to their parents, explaining why they had to leave so soon. Kairi left the bottle next to Selphie's boat and walked with Sora back over to Riku, who stood on the beach facing the ocean.

"Why?" Sora turned to Kairi when she asked this. "Why do we have to leave so soon? Why can't we stay and relax for a while?"

"Your worried about us getting separated again, aren't you, Kairi?" Sora knew he was right. Kairi looked up at him. "I won't let that happen. I'll keep you safe, Kairi. I promise." Kairi smiled and nodded at her childhood friend. They kept walking until they reached Riku. After Sora asked if he was ready, the three of them walked towards the shack on the beach. Inside was a green portal that would take them to the Gummi Ship. Before they could reach the shack, a wave of sand washed around their ankles. Turning, Kairi, Sora, and Riku faced a large black and white Gummi Ship. It didn't appear to have any weapons. On top of the ship was a man wearing a black coat and a white shirt. He leapt from the Gummi Ship and walked slowly across the sands. It didn't take long for the three children from Destiny Island to figure out who he was.

"You have no doubt already received a message from the King concerning who I am," the Keyslayer said. "I will make my intentions clear: I will leave this world with two new Keyblades in my possession. If you do not hand them over of your own will, I will be forced to shatter them while you still hold them."

"Sora," Riku whispered to his friend. "If we don't call out our Keyblades, he can't do anything."

"But how will you fight him?" Kairi asked.

"I should have you know, I have exceptional hearing," the Keyslayer said. "I have found it necessary to acquire such skills in my quest to destroy the Keyblades, but I digress. You are correct, Princess. They cannot engage me in combat unless they summon their Keyblades. As such, I will force them to draw their weapons." He held out his right hand and a small Light appeared in the palm. He extended his left arm, and a ball of Darkness appeared in that hand. The Keyslayer slapped his hands together, forcing the Light and Darkness to combine. From his hands sprang a grey, almost silver Light. It solidified into a shape very familiar to Sora. It was a long weapon with a silver blade and a silver lion head at the end of the blade. It was a Keyblade.

"Lionheart?" Sora said. "How did you get that? I thought I lost it…"

"Inside Castle Oblivion?" the Keyslayer asked. "You did, and I found it. I have Balanced this weapon of Light with a small amount of Shadow. Now, this weapon is capable of destroying a Keyblade."

"What are you talking about?" Riku shouted. "Are you saying a Keyblade can't normally destroy another Key?"

"Precisely. Keyblades are weapons of Light, and as such are incapable of destroying Light. They can only destroy Darkness. However, my weapon is capable of destroying the Light of a Keyblade because of the Darkness I have imbedded into it."

"Your Keyblade contains Darkness," Sora said. "If that's true," he continued, swinging a hand and materializing Ultima Weapon, "then the Light of our Keyblades can destroy yours!" Riku nodded and called Way to the Dawn to his hand. Before Sora could make a move, the Keyslayer had slammed Lionheart onto Sora's Key. Everyone saw a visible crack appear on Ultima Weapon, Light spilling from the seam.

"Impressive logic, Keymaster. However, there is but one flaw in your hypothesis: my Key is not of Darkness alone, Sora," Keyslayer said. "My Key is Darkness _and_ Light. It is no longer a weapon of Light, nor is it of Darkness. It is a weapon of Balance. And Balance. Trumps. Light."

FDB: How do you like it? Kinda short, but I think it's good. If you think I should continue with this, review and tell me so.


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